Meat + Poultry - August 2005 - 48

Packaging

tion it has received in test markets,"
he continues. "This new package is
not only easy to use and convenient
for the consumer, it also improves the
food safety of the product because it
is vacuum packed and eliminates the
need for repackaging at home."
Vacuum-packaged product is more
accepted today, says Rex Moore, president of Maverick Ranch Natural Meats,
Denver. Although vacuum packaging
for meats has been available for more
than 20 years, he argues that it really
has not yet become the industry norm.
However, that could be changing, according to Moore. "Actually the only
way you can buy fresh buffalo today is
vacuum packaged," he says.
In addition to more vacuum-packaged chicken, Moore says more subprimal cuts are also being sold at retail
in this packaging. However, one of the
drawbacks of vacuum-packaged red
meat is that it looks purple, and whether a majority of consumers are willing
to buy purple meat remains to be seen.
Buffalo is vacuum packaged, according to Moore, because it is a specialty
item and retailers can't afford to give
up a lot of shrink from this product.
Vacuum packaging can provide shelf
life for up to 28 days.

for shelf life and freezing product.
Reducing shrink
A new tri-gas mixture for case-ready
beef is showing promise, according to
Maverick Ranch's Moore. The mixture
includes nitrogen, carbon dioxide and
carbon monoxide. "Retailers are being
standofﬁsh because of what the mix is
and how long the product stays red, but
I think it is going to make some huge
inroads," he says. Retailers need to be
educated about the fact that carbon
monoxide is generally recognized as
safe, and used at a level of 0.04 percent
in the tri-gas mixture, Moore adds.
Carbon monoxide helps keep the
meat red. In fact, the meat will spoil
before it changes colors, so retailers
and consumers have to use other senses
to ensure the meat is still good. "Consumers and retailers need to know that
the use- or freeze-by dates are mandatory when cooking and consuming
product," Moore says.
Moore also contends the tri-gas
mixture could make case-ready more
viable for a single-location processor, because it could ship its products
across the country as opposed to a high
oxygen program that is regional at best.
Additionally, using the tri-gas mixture
will allow for
improvements in
shrink in caseready packaging,
Moore says, noting that reducing
shrink is the No.
1 goal for most
retailers. "Trigas case-ready
beef can eliminate 90 percent of the
shrink retailers are now incurring in the
beef section," Moore adds. Instead of
having one to ﬁve days to sell product,
retailers would have 14 to 18 days, and
it could increase to as much as 24 to 28
days, he says.
Another way packaging technology can reduce shrink is through the
use of magnetic security sensors in
packaging. "Theft is the biggest shrink

Many consumers are buying in smaller
quantities and may be willing to pay
a premium for these smaller packages.
Purple meat does not seem to make
a very good impression for most consumers; therefore, Dr. Bob Delmore,
associate professor of meat science
at California Polytechnic State Univ.,
San Luis Obispo, says he doesn't think
the majority of consumers will accept
vacuum packaged meat anytime soon.
Nonetheless, he argues that vacuum
packaging is the way all meat should be
sold because of the beneﬁts it provides
50

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August 2005

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problem on tenderloins," says Moore.
By putting small, magnetic sensors in
trays and soaker pads, it will deter people from stealing, because, as he puts
it, "they will get caught walking out of
either the backroom or the front door."
Some soaker pad companies currently
offer this technology, and it is used in
certain supermarkets.
Equipment sales surge
As processors and their suppliers
continue trying to pinpoint the next
big thing in packaging, equipment
makers have reason to be optimistic.
The Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute predicts a 7 percent
increase in packaging machinery sales
in the United States, according to ﬁndings from its recently released U.S.
Purchasing Plans survey. The food
industry was predicted to spend nearly
$2.4 billion on packaging machinery in
2005, a 6 percent to 8 percent increase
over the past year.
Because of its need to upgrade for
speed and ﬂexibility, Maverick Ranch
has spent more on packaging equipment this year than in previous years or
even on processing equipment, Moore
says. "I actually just ordered a new machine for vacuum packaging and have
upgraded my modiﬁed-atmosphere
and case-ready packaging equipment
for speed and volume but also to be
able to move into the tri-gas arena," he
explains.
Lee's Meats, Tea, S.D., purchased its
ﬁrst rollstock machine in the mid-1980s
and has recently purchased a new system to add more capacity. The company
started nearly 30 years ago slaughtering
cattle and processing wild game, but
soon after it expanded into making
sausages and curing hams and bacon.
In its infancy, Lee's Meats, founded by
Lee and Doris Hofer, used plain white
paper to package products. "Back then,
the company existed as a service operation in slaughter and processing. Today,
we're thriving and growing because of
our ability to package products in ways
that best serve our diverse customer

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